Daryl Read and his wife Wendy bought the single-store, Canberra-based John Pope Electrical Wholesaler business back in 2002, they quickly decided to retain the Pope name. It had become a familiar and trusted one since John Pope established the business in 1979 – and familiarity and trust go a long, long, way.

Over the two-plus decades that have since followed, Daryl has overseen their expansion – POPES now has three stores in the Canberra area, with branches in Phillip (2009) and Mitchell (2014) complementing the original Fyshwick store – and the business employs 22 full-time staff, in addition to casual team members that supplement when needed.

The strategic store expansion has enabled POPES to be more available and accessible to contractors wherever they are in the area, with Mitchell to the north and Phillip to the south creating a good geographic representation.

“When we had one branch, people would often say, ‘Mate, I’ve already got four or five accounts, I don’t need another one’,” recalls Daryl.

“Everyone referred to it as Pope’s or Popey’s, so we renamed it POPES Electrical and Data Supplies and away we went,” explains Daryl.

“However, since we’ve had the three stores, people come to us asking for an account – that convenience is our bread and butter. We cover all the local areas, making it easy for customers to find us. And they want to do business with us, which is good.”

Convenience may be a good ‘in’, but there’s got to be the service and products to back it up. And while the three stores all have their own personality, the ethos of delivering exceptional service is strong and consistent.

“Customers immediately get a warm welcome when they come into the store,” says Daryl.

“Our staff know customers by name, and they’ve been around for a while so their product knowledge is very good, too.”

And, in terms of service, POPES – like any good independent electrical wholesaler – will always go to great lengths to make sure customers get what they need in time.

“If a product is not on the shelf, we’ll get it quickly,” says Daryl.

“We have six delivery vehicles here in Canberra, so our delivery service is really fast and responsive. Our internal processes of making sure we have stock on the shelves and don’t have any gaps means customers know they can come in here and find everything they need – they don’t need to come here for one thing, and go elsewhere for another.”

How POPES competes on price

As a small, family-run business, POPES shares common ground with many of its customers, who tend to be smaller commercial and residential customers – think businesses with up to 20 staff.

And, while price has got to meet expectations, the service levels and relationships – as well as knowing you’re supporting a fellow local business that’s active in the community – all combine for a strong proposition for contractors.

“As we’re part of Gemcell, we can take that price concern out of people’s minds,” says Daryl.

“Then it’s about service. And I think those contractors who are family businesses know how hard it is. They understand the difficulties of running your own business, and they’re more than happy to support other family businesses.”

“If we weren’t part of Gemcell, they might question how a small, family business could compete on price with the larger multinationals, but we can remove that seed of doubt.”

Strength in the Canberra community

Outside of work, Daryl’s long been involved in the local AFL scene in Canberra, and his passions collide by sponsoring and supporting the Belconnen Magpies as well as being on the club committee.

POPES’ support of other local teams is wide-ranging, too, with various clubs and organisations benefitting from POPES’ commitment to the community over the years.

“We tend to get involved in teams our staff are involved in, too,” Daryl says. “For example, our Fyshwick storeman plays local soccer, so we sponsor his team, and our Phillip manager played for a local gridiron club, so we sponsored them too.

“We’re also involved in the local college’s business support group, which helps bring the next generation through.

“We are here for the long haul. It’s not just a job until we find something else and we move on to greener pastures. We are in it, it is our patch, and we need to nurture it and water it and help it grow.”